


October 17th, 2016 - Winter,  Part 2

by IMAgentMI



Series: October Microfic-a-Day Project [17]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 03:57:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8313148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IMAgentMI/pseuds/IMAgentMI
Summary: North and Theta return to the winter dreams, but North is getting tired.





	

North’s legs worked in long smooth strides as his skates cut into the lake. He held tight to a rope pulling the wood sled and Theta laughed, holding on as it sped over the ice. North grinned, then dug in his skates, letting the sled’s momentum pull it into a tight arc. Theta shrieked as North finally let go, sending the two spinning in circles across the ice. North watched breathless until the sled hit a snowbank and upended, leaving Theta on his back, gasping and giggling in the cold.

North looked around as he walked over to Theta. He’d been having more difficulty maintaining the lucid dreams lately. Landscapes shifted, or were incomplete, fading to a mist or void. Details changed even under his gaze. None of this was horrible, though. It as almost certainly down to him being tired. Or stressed. He was certainly both these days. It would probably get better if he had a couple good nights’ sleep.

Theta was just climbing back onto the sled when North reached him. “You ready, buddy?”

“Yeah! Can you go faster this time?”

“You want me to go faster? We can go faster!” North grinned evilly, gathered up the rope. Theta gave him a thumbs up and North dug in his skates and --

 

Everything was still. Theta pushed himself up off the sled and looked around. One second they’d been picking up speed, and then stopped, with nothing between. “North?”

North stood on the ice. His skates were gone. So was the rope, and next to him, the sled dissolved as well. Theta looked up as the blue sky darkened to grey. With a sinking heart, he crept up to his Freelancer’s side. “North?” His friend didn’t blink, didn’t move, didn’t answer.

In the distance, the grey writhed into black. A wave formed, separated, peeled off into individuals, into soldiers, ranks upon ranks across the entire horizon. Next to him, a rifle appeared in North’s hands, and he stepped forward, one man in a down parka against thousands. Then the screaming began --

 

“We can go faster!” 

Theta blinked in the sunshine. “North?”

“Ready?”

Theta stumbled off the sled. “No, wait!”

North turned. “Everything okay?” 

“I...I think I’m tired. 

“Tired?”

“Yeah.”

“You want to stop?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Sure.” North took a knee and Theta ran to hug him. “Rest up, buddy.”

“You too, okay? Goodnight, North.”

“Goodnight.”


End file.
